On Today's Podcast
How Did Ancient Humans Use The Acoustics Of Spaces Like Caves?
What did a vulture-bone flute sound like inside a cave? How about singing inside a tomb? Researchers are bringing ancient sounds back to life.
Listen NowDecember 12, 2025
Over the past century, most cancer research has focused on the tumor itself. Rakesh Jain focused on the tumor’s environment instead. Plus, a glacier’s edge can be a dangerous place to do research. One team is using robots and sound samples to monitor the melting ice. And, when cases of plague pop up in the US, it can feel straight up medieval. It’s treatable, but how and why does it persist?
18:12
The Myth Of Multitasking
Psychologist Clifford Nass says multitasking may be killing our concentration and creativity.
Gear for Your Coffee Grounds
Coffee experts percolate over how to get the most from your grounds. From the chemex to the wood neck, the brewmasters filter out reasons to choose one brewing device over another.
Science Standards for the Next Generation
Newly released science standards expect students to be capable of designing experiments and making evidence-based arguments.
Smuggled Dinosaurs, Sick Sea Otters, Hairy Tongues, and More
A roundup of science stories or studies that blow our mind, tickle our funny bone, or generally strike our fancy.
Black Silicon and Smart Wind Turbines
Very quietly, solar and wind technologies are making some important advances. Here are a couple examples.
11:34
Ancient Earth May Have Smelled Like Rotten Eggs
Bacteria-like creatures living nearly two billion years ago belched hydrogen sulfide, the signature stench of rotten eggs.
17:25
17-Year Cicadas Primed to Emerge
After spending 17 years underground, millions of Brood II cicadas are expected to emerge this spring.
11:16
Scientists Try to Take Antimatter’s Measurements
How can you measure the mass of a particle of antimatter? Might it fall up?
5:24
Living Inside the Box
Brooklyn residents Michele Bertomen and David Boyle designed and built a house made of shipping containers.
29:51
Michael Pollan: You Are What You Cook
Pollan once advised, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Now, he tells us how to cook it.
15:34
To Combat Rising Seas, Why Not Raise Up the Town?
Planning for the next Sandy, a New Jersey mayor has proposed lifting up his town. But at what cost?
Fermenting with Sandor Katz
Sandor Ellix Katz, self-proclaimed “fermentation revivalist” and author of “The Art of Fermentation” (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2012) discusses the two “cultures.”
Living Inside the Box
Michele Bertomen and David Boyle bought an empty 20-by-40-foot lot in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and built a home constructed from shipping containers.
Is Cooking Baked Into Our Biology?
According to the “cooking hypothesis,” the advent of cooked food altered the course of human evolution.
The SciFri Book Club Takes a Walk
Get ready to trail along with writer Bill Bryson.
Time Crystals, Canine Conservationists, Copycat Monkeys, and More
A roundup of science stories or studies that blow our mind, tickle our funny bone, or generally strike our fancy.
Science Project: Coffee
Get the scoop on coffee flavor with Harold McGee’s counter-top chemistry experiment.
April 19th SciFri Broadcast to Air at Later Date
NPR’s continuing live coverage of events in Boston will preempt today’s Science Friday. The recorded April 19th program will be broadcast nationwide in our regularly scheduled timeslot on a later date.
29:30
Utah’s Fossil Finds Describe an Ancient World
A panel of paleontology experts describes some of Utah’s ancient treasures.